Loving A Sailor

by Lucy M. Young

Loving a sailor is not all play
In fact there's very little of gay
It's being young and feeling old
It's mostly to have and never to hold.

Loving a sailor is all milk and no cream
It's being in love with a misty dream
It's getting a Valentine from a southern base
And sending a stamped letter with an upside face.

It's hoping for leaves you know won't come
It's wondering if he'll ever get home
And when he does it's laughter together
Unconscious of people, of time, of weather

It's hearing him whisper his love for you
And your answering whisper that you love him too
And then comes the ring and the promise of love
And knowing you're watched by the Father above

And loving a sailor is good-bye at the train
And wondering if you'll ever see him again
And reluctantly, painfully, letting him go
When inside you're crying for wanting him so.

Then you watch for a word that he is well
And wait thru a long dragg-out "no letter" spell
And your feet are planted in sand not sod
And your source of strength came solely from God

Loving a sailor is unidentified fears
And crying until there are no more tears
And hating the world and yourself and the war
And stamping and kicking 'till you can't fight anymore

And really meaning the prayer that you're saying
And when the mail comes you bubble with joy
And you act like a baby with a shining new toy
And you know he is oceans away
And you just keep loving him more everyday.

You're proud of the job he's helping get done
And you don't care anymore if loving's not fun
Then you grit your teeth and muster a grin
You've got a job and you'd better begin
You've got a fight, the same one he's in
We've got a war and you'd better help win

When comes your birthday, you're a year older today
But you feel just the same as you did yesterday
You're not, you've changed, you're wiser [and] stronger
You can weather this way if it's twenty years longer
You'll work and you'll sweat every hour of the day
Your job will be hard but you'll sure earn your pay
You're tired and you're weary but you're doing your share.

So loving a sailor is bitterness, tears
It's loneliness, sadness, unidentified fears
It's nothing to take for a darn lot of giving
It's fretting, sweating and living
No, loving a sailor is really not fun
But it's sure worth the price when the battle is won.